Boom!
The wall was smashed, creating a large hole under an astonishing force. Amidst the flying dust, a figure emerged from the hole, gradually becoming clear.
When they clearly saw the figure's appearance, both Zhou Ming and Hirakawa Masamasa were utterly astonished.
"This... how is this possible?"
The one who appeared before them was none other than Nohara Momonosuke!
However, at this moment, Nohara Momonosuke had already shed his luxurious robes, replacing them with a red full-body samurai armor of the same style as Hirakawa Masamasa's.
His originally aged, wrinkled face was now full of plump skin and muscles, making him look completely like a man in his thirties. His physique had become tall and imposing, exuding an incredibly sharp aura, with a powerful sense of strength gushing forth. Where was the hunched, scrawny appearance he had before?
He held two samurai swords, one long and one short, in his hands. Under the candlelight, the blades reflected a dark red glow, as if blood was surging within them.
At this very moment, Nohara Momonosuke, simply by standing there, exuded an astonishing sense of oppression. His every move made people's hearts pound, as if they were not facing a human, but a ferocious and terrifying prehistoric beast!
'So that's it,' Zhou Ming finally understood.
'Armor that can block bullets, the non-human Nohara Momonosuke, this is the extraordinary power of this world...'
Facing Zhou Ming's gaze, Nohara Momonosuke bared his teeth in a bloodthirsty smile.
"This perfect body, I originally intended to display it properly to my retainers at tonight's banquet and baptize it with their blood and lives. I didn't expect to be forced to reveal it by you first..."
"It doesn't matter, your blood is incomparably delicious, more palatable than all of theirs combined..."
Swish!
Nohara Momonosuke's speed at this moment was terrifying. With a flash, he appeared before Zhou Ming, his long blade cutting a streak of bloody light, slashing towards Zhou Ming's abdomen.
A ghost-like flicker, Zhou Ming narrowly dodged the blade at the critical moment. He looked down at his abdomen; his clothes were cut open, and a shallow streak of blood slowly appeared.
'I'm injured...'
'No, if it weren't for the Grass Movement Gu, I might not have dodged that strike. Was I almost disemboweled? Hmph!'
The Grass Movement Gu could enhance Zhou Ming's perception, making him more sensitive to the slightest movements around him, especially strengthening his sense of danger.
"Very good. You are the first person in this world who has made me feel such a strong sense of danger."
Zhou Ming sneered, holding his blade in his right hand and his gun in his left, activating the Sword Qi Gu. Sword Qi attached to the blade, and his essence, Qi, and spirit converged, rapidly boosting his combat power to its Peak.
The next moment, the two rushed towards each other simultaneously. In their super-fast movement, their two blades collided violently.
Clang!
Sparks flew.
Zhou Ming raised his gun in his left hand and fired. Bullets whistled towards Nohara Momonosuke, but they were all blocked by the short sword Nohara Momonosuke wielded in his other hand.
Bullets flew wildly, but not a single one could penetrate the short sword's light barrier around Nohara Momonosuke.
'What incredible speed! What exquisite swordsmanship!'
Even in such an intense battle, Zhou Ming couldn't help but praise Nohara Momonosuke's skill.
At such close range, blocking all bullets with just a short blade was something Zhou Ming himself couldn't do. The distance was too close, requiring not only powerful physical fitness and reaction speed but also extremely subtle swordsmanship.
Just this one move showed that Nohara Momonosuke's swordsmanship Realm was not much inferior to Tokugawa Yamato's!
If one were to also consider Nohara Momonosuke's current non-human powerful physique, Tokugawa Yamato might not even be able to last thirty moves under Nohara Momonosuke's blade!
And while the short blade blocked the bullets, Nohara Momonosuke's long blade once again swept towards Zhou Ming!
Everything around them seemed to slow down. In their eyes, nothing else could be seen but each other's figures and movements. Their minds were solely focused on how to fight and how to kill the other.
Their long blades continuously collided and clashed, with clusters of bright sparks appearing and vanishing in the air. The clanging sound of metal on metal was incessant.
Hirakawa Masamasa gripped the blade in his hand tightly, his palms and face drenched in sweat. The speed of their strikes was already too fast for him to see clearly, and even their figures were gradually blurring.
Hirakawa Masamasa had no doubt that if he didn't have this armor, he would be instantly cut down by either combatant!
"H-how can they be so fast?"
Hirakawa Masamasa realized that in this battle, he had instantly become a spectator.
Crash!
Boom!
The two moved rapidly while fighting. Wherever they passed, chairs, tables, screens, doors, windows, and even the thick wooden pillars supporting the house were all shattered.
The entire room looked as if a hundred bandits had passed through, turning into a ruin. As the house pillars were cut down one by one, the structure became even more precarious, creaking and groaning.
'It's not going to collapse, is it?' Hirakawa Masamasa thought foolishly.
Crash!
The roof beams collapsed, the roof shattered, and tiles clattered down. Under the battle of the two non-human beings, the entire house finally couldn't hold up and gradually collapsed.
After another fierce collision, both leaped back simultaneously, creating distance, then continued to rush towards each other.
'This guy, his strength and speed are both faster than mine.'
Zhou Ming himself used the Grassland Gu, which made his own strength far exceed that of ordinary people, enough to overpower tigers and leopards with brute force alone. Yet, such strength was still inferior, which showed the abnormal extent of Nohara Momonosuke's physical fitness.
'And those two blades are also good things.' Zhou Ming stared intently at the long and short samurai swords in Nohara Momonosuke's hands, their edges reflecting a blood-red glow.
The edelman alloy blade was virtually indestructible in this world. Even Tokugawa Yamato's famous blade, Maeda Kōtsunemaru, was chopped into pieces by his few strikes, causing him to lose the duel.
It was simply unbelievable that these two blades could clash head-on with the edelman alloy blade so many times without showing any nicks.
'What is the source of his extraordinary power?'
Nohara Momonosuke lunged again, and Zhou Ming, not to be outdone, continued to clash with him fiercely.
However, such intense fighting consumed a tremendous amount of stamina. Zhou Ming was not a strength-oriented Martial Artist. Although the Vine Root Gu constantly replenished his consumption, it was still not enough.
Zhou Ming already felt the fatigue in his body, especially his right arm holding the blade. Each fierce collision left his arm numb and his wrist sore. His strength was gradually fading, and he was slowly falling into a disadvantage.
'Doesn't he feel tired?'
'Let's try this move!'
Zhou Ming suddenly burst forth with immense strength, disregarding the severe consumption, and forced Nohara Momonosuke back with several strikes. He quickly summoned the Flower Bud Gu and took out a flashbang.
Holding the flashbang, Zhou Ming again rushed quickly towards Nohara Momonosuke, who grinned ferociously, neither dodging nor avoiding, and raised his blade to strike.
'Hmm, his state seems a little off.'
Zhou Ming noticed that Nohara Momonosuke's emotions seemed very high, and his movements had become more reckless, lacking some of the precision and caution.
'Even better!'
The two blades clashed again. Feeling the power transmitted from across the blade, Zhou Ming was surprised; Momonosuke's strength was even greater than before!
So the next moment, Zhou Ming closed his eyes.
The moment after that, the flashbang Zhou Ming had thrown into the air exploded.
The light was blindingly bright, like a scorching sun. Nohara Momonosuke had no time to open his eyes, only feeling a vast whiteness before him, unable to see anything.
The sudden surge of extreme threat made Nohara Momonosuke's body instinctively act before his brain could command, using all his strength to flee backward.